What Happens to Your Body When You Lose Extra Weight

According to the World Health Organization, almost 2 billion adult people around the world are overweight. Considering the fact that our culture promotes being fit, it’s no wonder that many people dream of losing weight. And according to the results of studies by American researchers from Chicago University, people should want to lose weight. Extra weight is believed to be a huge threat to people’s health and is the main reason for the development of type II diabetes and heart-related diseases.

We at Bright Side decided to discuss how losing extra weight influences people’s health.

1. Your teeth stay healthy.

For people aged 18 to 36, obesity can be the reason for the development of periodontitis — the inflammation of tissues around your teeth. It has been proven that obesity is connected with an increase in cases of periodontitis among the younger population.

But the promotion of a healthy diet and physical activity can help prevent or at least slow down the speed of periodontitis development.

2. The risk of kidney failure is reduced.

Obesity leads to nephron deficiency. Nephrons are special kidney cells where the filtration, absorption, and secretion of elements happens. So, nephrons have to do a lot of work. If the mass of fat tissue continues to increase, the mechanisms of the kidneys literally break down, which leads to kidney failure. So if you are overweight and lose the extra weight, your risk of kidney failure is reduced.

3. The risk of diabetes type II is reduced.

Type II diabetes is when the body loses the ability to produce insulin when sugar is in the blood. A large amount of fat deposits makes cells less sensitive to insulin and sugar stays in the blood, which leads to the development of the disease.

Even though most people who are overweight have this disease, genes play a huge role too. If some of your family has or had diabetes, doctors strongly recommend keeping track of your sugar and insulin levels, eating a healthy diet, and getting the right amount of physical activity.

4. Hair and nails become stronger.

From time to time all women complain about the dryness of their nails and hair, and sometimes cracks near their lips. But if these problems become more pronounced, this may be a sign of iron deficiency.

Scientists found out that there are several mechanisms that eventually lead to iron deficiency in the body. If we fix our metabolism by losing weight, we can get rid of iron deficiency.

5. Joint pain disappears.

Unfortunately, some of us experience joint pain much more often than we would like. But there is good news: if you are overweight and lose the extra weight, you could lessen your pain because your joints will have less weight to carry. Scientists conducted a study and proved that the reduction of body mass reduced the risk of osteoarthritis, which is a very common disease.

It’s obvious that thanks to gravity the reduction of weight decreases joint pain. But the numbers are really impressive. For example, in elderly patients, every lost pound led to the reduction of joint pressure by 4 times.

6. Your chances of becoming pregnant will improve.

It’s well-known that if a woman is too skinny, her menstruation can be affected and she might have difficulties getting pregnant. But extra weight can be a problem too.

It’s important to understand that if a woman is infertile, losing extra weight won’t help. However, losing extra weight and reaching the optimal body weight will increase the chances of having a baby, even in healthy women.

7. The risk of having certain types of cancer is reduced.

Scientists found a connection between some types of cancer and obesity. The presence of extra fat in the body influences the metabolic and immune processes that also play a role in the formation and growth of tumor cells. It’s also interesting that extra weight in women provokes cancer more often than in men.

8. The risk of having a cardiovascular disease is reduced.

Cardiovascular diseases have become one of the most serious problems worldwide. A sedentary lifestyle and an increase of people who are overweight play a big role in this.

Scientists have proven that heart problems in people with obesity are way more prevalent than in people with normal weight. More than that, not even medication can’t fix these problems. The only way to avoid this is for the patient to lose weight. This is a very good reason to start thinking about your diet and exercising.

9. Your cognitive abilities improve.

Scientists found out that the more a person weighs, the higher the number of special proteins, called inflammation markers, are in their blood. And the number of these proteins is connected with the level of intelligence: the more “inflammation” proteins a person has, the lower their IQ. The connection between intelligence and overall body health is much stronger than we thought.

10. You stop snoring and sleep better.

Sleep apnea is more prevalent than you might think. When someone has this, their breathing stops many times while they’re sleeping for just a few seconds so the body is never able to go to the deep phase of REM sleep. Almost 25% of adults have signs of apnea. And for patients with obesity, this number rises to 45%.

Fat deposits are in organs, the spaces between them, and also around the throat. This puts pressure on the throat, making breathing harder. If you are obese and lose extra weight, you can make apnea symptoms less intense, but according to scientists losing weight won’t cure apnea completely.

11. You will live longer.

Extra weight influences not only our quality of life but also our life expectancy. After studying almost 4 million people, scientists found out that an increase in weight also leads to an increase in mortality. It’s also interesting that the mortality rate grows if the body mass index is too low or too high.

12. The state of your skin improves.

Excess body fat influences the physiological processes happening in the skin. That’s why fat folds will appear on the skin if you have extra weight. Scientist have proven that patients who are obese have dry skin because the epidermal barrier is damaged.

According to another study, people who are overweight are 5 times more likely to have psoriasis. Extra weight and skin problems always accompany each other. Also the younger the patient is, the higher their risk of having a skin disease.

Feeling comfortable in your own skin is really important. This is why we don’t think you should go on a diet just because it’s trendy. But if you are overweight, in order to live a longer and a healthier life, you should think about changing your habits.

Do you know about any positive consequences of losing weight? Tell us about them in the comment section below!